Disclosed are photoconductive members, and more specifically, photoconductive members useful in an electrostatographic, for example xerographic, including digital, image on image, and the like, printers, machines or apparatuses. In embodiments, there are selected photoconductive members comprised of a charge transport layer containing a core shell component comprised of a metal oxide core and a silica shell, and photoconductive members comprised of a nanosized core shell component, and which shell is hydrophobically and chemically treated or modified with, for example, a hydrophobic moiety, such as silazane, specifically 1,1,1-trimethyl-N-(trimethylsilyl)-silanamine, fluorosilane, polysiloxane, and more specifically, where the core is comprised of a metal oxide, such as titanium oxide, aluminum oxide, cerium oxide, tin oxide, antimony-doped tin oxide, indium oxide, indium-doped tin oxide, zinc oxide, and the like, and a silica shell, and where the shell has added thereto a silazane, and also where the resulting hydrophobized core shell component possesses a number of advantages, such as permitting an extension to the lifetime of the photoconductor to about 500,000 imaging cycles, especially in situations where bias charging rolls are used for charging the photoconductor, and allowing for the minimization of the wear characteristics of the photoconductor charge transport layer. The core shell selected for the photoconductors disclosed also in embodiments possess a hydrophobic surface enabling improved image transfer, improved scratch/wear resistance, and excellent electrical stability.
Also disclosed are methods of imaging and printing with the photoconductor devices illustrated herein. These methods generally involve the formation of an electrostatic latent image on the imaging member, followed by developing the image with a toner composition comprised, for example, of a thermoplastic resin, a colorant, such as pigment, a charge additive, and surface additives, subsequently transferring the image to a suitable substrate, and permanently affixing the image thereto. In those environments wherein the device is to be used in a printing mode, the imaging method involves the same operation with the exception that exposure can be accomplished with a laser device or image bar. More specifically, flexible belts disclosed herein can be selected for the Xerox Corporation iGEN3® and subsequent related machines that generate with some versions over 100 copies per minute. Processes of imaging, especially xerographic imaging and printing, including digital and/or color printing, are thus encompassed by the present disclosure. The imaging members are, in embodiments, sensitive in the wavelength region of, for example, from about 400 to about 900 nanometers, and in particular from about 650 to about 850 nanometers, thus diode lasers can be selected as the light source. Moreover, the imaging members of this disclosure are useful in high resolution color xerographic applications, particularly high speed color copying and printing processes.